1. Field
One embodiment of the present invention relates to an information processing apparatus which controls charge of a battery for driving an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer.
2. Description of the Related Art
A battery for driving an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer generally uses a chargeable secondary cell. Such a battery degrades its performance when quickly charged at a high battery temperature. Hence, a hot battery needs to undergo normal charge because quick charge can be done only after the battery has cooled down. Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2001-128386 discloses a technique of performing quick charge upon determining that the risk of battery performance degradation caused by quick charge of a hot battery would not be so high if a residual battery capacity detection result indicates that the battery is almost fully charged and can completely be charged within a short time.
In the above-described technique of Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2001-128386, however, monitoring the temperature of the battery main body is of little significance because a chargeable secondary cell originally has temperature resistance to some extent. If the battery temperature exceeds a threshold during charge, the charge may stop even if the residual battery capacity indicates almost full charge. That is, it is impossible to control not to make the battery temperature exceed the threshold during charge to fully charge the battery. Hence, charge control needs to be done in accordance with the residual capacity and an increase in the battery temperature during charge.